eagle-pete

Cory If I were you, I would make sure to take the first step and get fully trained myself. Training is the key. You will find that training solves many problems both for struggling units and for well established ones. Follow the advise of the above posts. Beyond that, I would need alot more information from you to advise further. You didn't provide much in your post. I would need to know the following: (1)What is your Scouting position in the pack? (2)What other leaders are already in place and what training have they received? (3)What are some of the issues you see

Ah, I see... we are only talking about nice pranks. Please enlighten me... are we just talking about those types listed here by grampye, Eamonn, cajuncody, Texas Scouter, BrentAllen, wingnut, AwHeck, SSScout, packsaddle, evmori, C-BOLT, ASM915, FScouter, OldGreyEagle, anarchist? Which of these would qualify for a nice prank and which would you say are more of a malicious nature? And who makes these decisions? When would you say a 16 year old might know the nuances of when a nice prank turns bad and would he know what to do about it? And when? And with whom? Could he stop his friends a

Here, Here! Eagle Pete

BrentAlen I am not sure I understand your point. Are you saying that pranks and dealing with boys who "go too far with a prank" is part of the Aims and Methods of Scouting? Are you inferring that we as leaders should promote pranks as a means to "...have a keen respect for the basic rights of all people; and are prepared to participate in and give leadership to American society."? -- www.scouting.org, Aims and Methods of Scouting There has got to be better ways to convey this message to our youth. Anyway, I am not going to continue to quote BSA.. you are capable of looking up

As I am sure you are aware, BrentAlen, the Boy Scouts of America already has a means of "taking 11 year old children and turning them into young men." We call this the Aims and Methods of Scouting. No where in the Aims and Methods do I see listed pranks and "If the boys go too far with a prank,..." This isn't the YMCA, Boot Camp, or some other organization which puts youth through proving grounds or tests to see what we can "teach" them. This is the BSA. We don't teach firearms without a supervising NRA-certified Range Safety Officer, we don't go rock climbing without a qualified rock

And how many boys ages 12-18 know the difference? Not that I disagree with you, Beavah. Actually, I think you have hit it on the head. My point was not that pranks are not fun. It is just that most young men have difficulty making the distinction between fairness and fun, cruelty and light teasing, hurting and joking. I believe the maturity of boy scout age kids does not allow for the ability to make this kind of distinction. Even if an adult controls the environment and makes certain that lines are not crossed and the prank doesn't go too far, kids generally do not have the abil

Except I don't tell my wife I post on Scouter. She thinks I do work all day. Did you tell her???? Oh Crap! Now I'm really in trouble. Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

wtf sorry... sorry. I couldn't resist. That was very bad. Sorry. Eagle Pete

And Another Thing I'd only point out that kids (and even some adults) rarely have the insight, perception, experience, wisdom, and self-control to properly pull off a well thought out prank AND be able to keep people from getting hurt, property from being destroyed, tempers from flairing, and to be able to know when it is time to quit. This is not to say a well-meaning prank cannot be performed without casualties. But I do tend to play the odds and the chances are pretty high that even in the best laid plans of mice and men, something will go awry when you are talking about Boy Scou

Nope. Never heard of it, never used it. It may be some reference to the L in WEBELOS, which stands for Loyal. The WEBELOS acronym is for Webelos both I and II. I know of no other distiction between the two. Just as a side note. Webelos is always used with the S on the end, whether you are talking about all Webelos scouts, one Webelos scout, or the Webelos den. Webelos is not plural. Just a trivial pet peeve of mine. Your usage, Scouting Mom, is correct. Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

Lady_Leigh67 Welcome In general - Parents who constantly complain should be confronted about it. Now, I am talking about people who do nothing but complain and they do this at every scouting event. This should be taken care of, as it causes morale problems among the Cub Leadership. Who should confront them? This depends on where the complaints are mainly centered. If they complain about the cub program in general, the Cub Master should first speak with them. This should be a private, informal meeting with the goal of addressing the concerns of the parents. The Cub Master shou

Hey VigilEagle You're absolutely right, which is why I normally have professional ceremonies performed by American Indians who know what they're doing. The other way to go, and I have done this, is to have your local Order of the Arrow chapter come to perform for you. This is nice because it is usually free and the OA normally knows Indian lore and how to perform a respectful ceremony. Either way it is always good to go with trusted performers. I have done face painting, however this was not an American Indian ceremony. In my ceremony I make it clear that the paint represents

Lisa You're right about weather being an issue for ceremonies which include fire. I would typically hold ceremonies with fire involved in the summer. Also, we are an LDS unit and do not strictly follow the school year as far as cub advancements. Our cubs advance on or after their birthdays and we can potentially have Webelos earn their Arrow of Light any time of year. Yes, we do hold ceremonies for more than one boy whenever possible. Those boys who happen to earn the Arrow of Light during months of fair weather can have an outdoor ceremony which may include fire. If a boy compl

A Word of Caution Many moons ago I met an old Cubmaster who was experienced with AOL ceremonies. He passed on to me some very good advise - Be very careful with fire during ceremonies, especially those that involve a "pass or fail" test for the Cub Scout. You should know EXACTLY what you are doing. This kind of demonstration should be practiced, rehearsed, staged, practiced again, and then rehearsed again. You can probably guess the potential problem you have with a "pass or fail" ceremony like this. If something goes wrong you have just failed your Cub Scout. If you cho

Tami the Mom I am a little confused by your question. As ScoutNut pointed out, Den Chiefs have nothing to do with Cub Day Camp, at least as far as participation on a Day Camp staff is concerned. You may be confusing Den Chief with some other position in Boy Scouts. Take a look at this site: http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/dc.html That should answer many of your questions. If your son (or any boy scout) is selected to be a Den Chief they will then need to be trained and they will need to know the responsibilities of the Den Chief. This is not a casual position (which is

I think it would be helpful to define just what training is, at least in the context of Scout Leadership. Training is not simply a means of transfering information. If it were that simple, then yes, a DVD, video, or online training would suffice. But before we start "packaging" our trainings into nice, convenient value meals, let's consider the trade-offs... Scouting Spirit This is the old clich, right? Let's get that Scouting Spirit! But there is something about scouting which you have to have in order to be able to swallow all the skits, songs, and goofy activities. That int

fb The 12 step intro would actually go something like this... "Hello, my name is Eagle Pete. It has been 1 month since I last volunteered for yet another position in my district..." Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

Lisa I totally agree with you and Scoutnut. Let's remember, the whole purpose behind these "regulations" is SAFETY. Don't you think it would be wise, no matter what someone calls the outing or who's in charge, that the BSA policies should be followed when kids are involved? Would it hurt to make certain that a BALOO trained adult is present? Couldn't this cover any eventualities or mishaps, regardless if it is a BSA sponsored or insured outing? I just think BSA policies are good for everyone. I realize I may be in the minority. Eagle Pete

That's funny, SSScout. Our pack did exactly the same thing. Have you been talkin' to our CC? Eagle Pete

SpongeBob Let me restate this... the Committee Chair CANNOT tell you how to run Pack Meetings. Change your presentation schedule to meet the needs of the boys. Do not seek the CC's approval, as you do not need it. A committee member should normally be assigned to fill out advancement forms. The position is called Pack Advancement Chair. If the Committee does not have an Advancement Chair, it falls on the Den Leaders to fill out their den advancement forms. I would have the Den Leaders do this until an Advancement Chair is selected. Let them know it is part of the den's r

SpongeBob You are right on the money about holding back badges. You never, never, NEVER hold back presenting a badge to a boy who has earned it. You mentioned that the CC is trained, and I do not doubt that she may have at some point attended a training, however just from what you have mentioned, it appears she is not following the program. First of all, it is not the CC's job to tell you how to run a Pack meeting or when to present badges. That is completely wrong and she needs to stop doing that. The CC's responsibility is the Committee. Your responsibility (assuming you are t

Lisa What do you really want to do? I would start with that. I'd start with one of the scouting families that you are most interested in helping with (Cubs, Boy Scouts, Venturing, Explorers) and have a little chat with them. Find out where they need assistance and see if you can provide it. You might want to suggest to them some of your interests, such as training. Offer to help make sure everyone gets trained or at least knows where the trainings are offered. Offer to the Boy Scout or Cub Scout committees to join and be the committee member for training. These are just exa

FScouter I'm no expert on BSA legalities, nor am I a lawyer, although I play one on Scouter forums. I am not sure what you mean by your post. As I see it, once BSA policy is not adhered to, those leaders no longer fall under the protection of BSA insurance, by default. In fact, their claim that the activity is declaired "NO LONGER an officially sanctioned BSA outing" may at that point be moot. I do not see that they would have any legal case against BSA the moment they failed to adhere to BSA policy. Eagle Pete

In either scenario, it is too late. Contingency plans should have been in place before the day of the camp. Have the adults turn around and bring the boys home. Get another adult to BALOO training before you plan your next camp. If that is not possible, cancel any future camps until you have at least one more BALOO trained adult. That having been said, I have a question. Why do you require a BALOO trained adult in order to go on a campout? Is this a new BSA requirement? Last I checked the only requirements were a filed Tour Permit and at least one Youth Protection Trained

Matt I think you will find that most staffers here on this forum, and perhaps other staffers you've known, do not consider Troop Guide to be an "entry level" position for Wood Badge Staff. In fact it is an incredibly crucial position, as we will be directly interacting with participants. Much of their experience depends directly on us. Do not take this position lightly or perceive it other than a key element to the participants' Wood Badge experience, as is surely is. I share your sentiments about the presentations as well as much of the other aspects of staffing Wood Badge. We h